It’s time for Valentine’s Day–that celebration of all things heart-shaped that brightens the depths of seemingly endless winter. I’ve written several previous posts on creative Valentine’s Day activities— check the Valentine’s posts from 2012 and 2013. I’m still waiting to hear who presented the best case for another body part to take over as ambassador of love. Why should the heart get all the glory?

But for today, I’m celebrating one particularly Valentine-worthy book, Dallas Clayton’s An Awesome Book of Love. I’ve been Dallas Clayton fan ever since An Awesome Book—in fact, since before the book was readily available in paper form. Because one of the awesome things about Dallas Clayton is that he publishes books online, so they are easily available for families and teachers. And then, like me, you may want a hard copy (since I’d still rather snuggle with a child holding a book than an ipad—I know that’s a sign of age). Anyway.

What better to inspire creativity for Valentine’s week than An Awesome Book of Love? You can read it online (really, just click and see) or in hard copy, or even from iTunes. Any way you read, it is a tribute to love that is awesome, whether for a child, a parent, a pet, a sibling, or significant other of any variety. As you read, imagine creating new pages. Clayton starts with a series of circumstances that could have kept love from blooming, for example:

If I were a dinosaur and you were a jet,

there’s a chance, there’s a good chance we’d never have met…

How much fun would it be to invent new couplets about love confounded?

If I were of ice and you were of sun,

one hot glance from you and my crystals would run.

(OK, maybe you couldn’t use that one in middle school, but you get the idea.) The book continues with descriptions of the joy and wonder of love:

I love you so much I would scream it from mountains

and dance like a fool in the coldest town fountains.

Again, challenge students or families to invent new pages that could fit the pattern.

Our love’s like a cat, warm and soft by the fire

It ties us together like telephone wire…

And, of course, if you want to tie your lesson to types of poetry, rhythm, or rhyme schemes, so much the better.